Health care complications

Posted
Thursday, June 19, 2014 8:20 pm

The current situation in the prisoner exchange, like the dirty linen showing up in the VA, and that in the government-run school lunch program, are, in this writer's opinion, perfect examples of what happens when the liberals take over anything.

It looks to me, like we traded five very smart, dangerous Islamic world enemies, for one dumb, wanna-be enemy pawn to satisfy the Taliban's desire for less drone strikes, shutting down Guantanamo Prison, and other assorted anti-American skullduggery, we have yet to find out about because Barack Hussein Obama's attitude toward the U.S.

And while we are at it, let's address this business of 40,000 people who supposedly died because of a lack of Obama-style medical care. I have a crystal ball, and I would predict that there will be more people getting less medical attention under Obamacare than there ever was under our fast fading health care system that so many people, including this writer, has enjoyed.

Fast fading because, for example, why are so many doctors giving up private practice, and running to institutions for shelter, or opting out of health care altogether?

The answer is in great part, due to Obama's changing of the way hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors applied for the Medicare/Medicaid portion of payment, which many people think is 80 percent of the bill, right?

Think again, the formula for payment for these two carriers is so complex that you would need an army of highly trained individuals to even begin to do the basics required for billing. After that minimal payment calculated by this advanced formula would be passed on to the second carrier for the balance due. Leaving us in our ignorance to believe that 80 percent had actually been paid by Medicare or that the balance had been picked up by Medicaid.

It used to be that health care providers were reimbursed using a flat rate for each service. I do not deny that it is time to review this process, but our socialist whiz kids have come up with a "simpler" less complicated, and cheaper version with each kind of service performed using a version of the following solution, expressed thus: MPFS amount=(RVUwxGPCIw)+exGPCIpe)+(RVUMmxGPCIm)xCF.

The rule says that if you don't follow the formula exactly, you don't get paid. I have heard it from learned people, that you will need a very well-experienced staff to interpret and apply these applications without mistakes, and that staff would probably get paid more than the doctors, nurses, and the rest of the office put together or you will be closing your doors because no payments will be coming in and you will be penalized for your ignorance and not only are physicians and hospitals not being reimbursed, but they also cannot bill the patient.

LAWRENCE HARRINGTON

Bennington Manchester Lions auction is taking a break

Our Annual Auction is going to take a break for this year. Like all who attended, we have loved the Manchester Lions Annual Auction. It brought so many people together to support a great cause -- our community.

We hope that you will continue to help the Manchester Lions Club to help others by supporting the Maple Leaf Half Marathon and the Elf Train -- an event to all ages.

We look forward to seeing you at the race and on the train on December 20 and 21.

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